SUBWAY LINE NAMES

by Joseph D. Korman

Ever wonder where the New York City subway lines got their names, numbers and letters? Well wonder no more - this is the introduction to the line designations and route names through the years in New York.

The subway, as we now know it opened by the IRT on October 27, 1904. Since the opening, it has expanded to over 230 miles of routes and over 400 miles of single track (not including yards). While the history of the system is too large to tell here, the line names can easily be told here.

Select from the menu on the left.

As one of my first jobs with the TA in the late 1970's I worked on the map committee for the first version of what is the current map. An interim prototype All Red Map was developed before the current map was finalized. The idea was that the multi-color map was too complex and this map used a hybrid of one color for all lines, but retianed the logo colors from the original Chrystie St map. For my efforts, I received a letter from Chairman Ravitch.

BMT SUBWAY LINES

The BROOKLYN - MANHATTAN TRANSIT (BMT) introduced route numbers, in addition to names with the articulated cars built in 1927. The BMT LINES names and numbers were:

1 BRIGHTON LINE

2 FOURTH AVE (BROOKLYN)

3 WEST END

4 SEA BEACH

5 CULVER+

6 FIFTH AVE +

7 FRANKLIN LINE

8 ASTORIA (see IRT note)

9 FLUSHING

10 MYRTLE-CHAMBERS

11 MYRTLE-JAY-BROOKLYN +

12 LEXINGTON AVE +

13 FULTON ST +

14 BROADWAY BROOKLYN

15 JAMAICA

16 CANARSIE

Allan Berlin told me that there was a #17 - 14th-Fulton which operated from 8th Ave & 14th Street to Broadway Junction then via the outer Fulton St El to Lefferts Ave. I had heard of this service, but I'm not sure if there was ever a sign made for #17. I do remember seeing a #13-14th St-Fulton sign, but it was never used.

+ These lines were part of an extensive network of elevated lines which spanned Brooklyn from 1880's to 1940 when dismantling began and ended in 1969 when the southern part of the Myrtle Ave line was demolished. Except for the #13- Fulton St no cars that operated on the lines had numbered signs. The Park Ave El - was the earliest but only operated between 1888 and 1891. The BMT-Multis had numbered signs.

IRT LINES

After the construction period ending in the mid 1920's, the Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) took on the basic operation it has today, sometimes called the "H" system. This name comes from the shape of the two mainlines - SEVENTH Ave on the Westside and the LEXINGTON Ave on the east connected at 42nd St. by the shuttle.

The IRT did not give route numbers to its lines, but gave unique names to the terminals, branch lines and mainlines. All IRT cars from the opening until the 1964 retirement of the last of the original IRT cars had metal side signs with enough information to know the terminals and the routes. A typical Lexington Ave train may have been set up as:

The signs were mounted in racks in the side windows at each end of the cars. The words were painted on both sides of each plate. The unused signs were stored in a metal pocket under the racks. The storage pocket had room for about 12 signs. Extra signs were also stored at the terminals. The tabs at the top were used like index tabs to make it easier to find a sign.

IRT Gets Numbers

After World War II, the Board of Transportation began to replace the old IRT cars starting with the R-12 cars in 1948. With these cars numbers were assigned to the IRT lines. The numbers were as follows:

1 Broadway

2 7th Ave - Bronx

3 Lenox Ave

4 Jerome Ave

5 Lexington - Bronx - Later signs only read 'LEX'

6 Pelham

7 Flushing

8 Astoria=

9 Dyre Ave +

Return to the BMT section

=The Flushing and Astoria lines opened in 1917 and were operated jointly by the BMT and IRT. In 1948 the lines were split with the IRT taking the Flushing Line and the BMT taking the Astoria Line. On the 1967 Chrystie St Service map (the first multicolored one) used the number 8 to designate the Bronx remnant of the Third Ave el. The #8 was never carried on any of the cars, including the R-12's which were used on the el until it closed in April 1973. The R-12 cars used SHUTTLE signs for the route.


+ The Dyre Ave line in the Bronx was part of an over-extended Railroad whose name was "NEW YORK, WESTCHESTER AND BOSTON". The line never went past Westchester. It operated from 1912 and went bankrupt about 1938. (As a side bar, my Alma Mata, the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (I graduated in 1970) operated the first fantrip on the NYW&B to inspect the new electric railroad in 1912). The Board of Transportation took over the part of the line in the Bronx in 1941 and operates the portion between E. 180th St. and Dyre Ave. It operated as a shuttle until 1957 when a flyover track connection was built to the Manhattan bound side of the E.180th St. station.

IRT 1959 Service

Not all of the cars had the route numbers. These cars were phased in between 1955 and 1959

Number	North	Via	South	Notes
	242/Van Cortlandt	Broadway-7th Ave	South Ferry	Local
	137th Broadway	Broadway-7th Ave
	Dyre Ave	Broadway-7th Ave	New Lots Ave	Exp Days
	241 White Plains Rd		Flatbush Ave	Exp Nights
	145th Lenox	7th Ave	Flatbush Ave	Exp Days
	Woodlawn-Jerome	Lexington Ave	New Lots Ave	Nights-Local
			Utica Ave	Rush Exp
			Atlantic Ave	Mid day
	241 White Plains Rd	Lexington Ave	Utica Ave	Rush Exp
			Atlantic Ave	Mid Day
			South Ferry	Weekends
	Pelham Bay Park	Lexington Ave	Brooklyn Bridge	Local - Exp
				Local
	177th Parkchester			Local
	Times Square	Flushing	Main St	Local & Exp
	Gun Hill Road	Third Ave	149th & 3rd	All times
	Dyre Ave	Dyre Ave	E 180th St	Shuttle
	Times Square	42nd St	Grand Central	Shuttle
	Bowling Green	Shuttle	South ferry	Shuttle

The above service pattern was very complicated. The #2 had different north and south terminals depending on the time of day. The #4 had different south terminals and the #5 disappeared over night. As a result, the following changes were made in 1965.

IRT 1965 Service

By 1964, all of the cars (except for the Lo-V's and '39 World's Fair cars on the 3rd Ave line) used the route numbers.
In 1967, with the merger of the BMT and IND divisions, a new color coded map was issued giving the IRT number colors too.

Number	North	Via	South	Notes
	242/Van Cortlandt	Broadway-7th Ave	South Ferry	Local
	137th Broadway	Broadway-7th Ave
	241 White Plains Rd	Broadway-7th Ave	New Lots Ave	Exp Days
	145th Lenox 148th Lenox Termianl opened May 13, 1968	7th Ave	Flatbush Ave	Exp Days
		Lenox	135th Lenox	Shuttle-night
	Woodlawn-Jerome	Lexington Ave	Flatbush Ave	Nights-Local
			Utica Ave	Rush Exp
			Atlantic Ave	Mid day
	241st Street	White Plains / Lexington Express	Utica Ave	Rush Thru Exp
	Dyre Ave or E. 180th St	Lexington Ave	Atlantic Ave	Mid Day
			South Ferry	Evenings & Weekends
	Pelham Bay Park	Lexington Ave	Brooklyn Bridge	Local - Exp
				Local
	177th Parkchester			Local
	Times Square	Flushing	Main St	Local & Exp
	Gun Hill Road	Third Ave	149th & 3rd	All times
	Dyre Ave	Dyre Ave	E 180th St	Shuttle
	Times Square	42nd St	Grand Central	Shuttle
	Bowling Green	Shuttle	South Ferry	Weekdays

Here is the service changes brochure from 1965.

Until about 1962 the Lexington Expresses had a conductor and rear guard (I remember seeing them at Nevins St). The conductor was stationed between the first and second cars and the rear guard was between cars nine and ten. This was to allow the conductor on southbound trains to open the doors on both sides of the first car only at Bowling Green to allow passengers to get to the shuttle for South Ferry without using the stairs. This was before the separate northbound platform was built. Passengers from Brooklyn would get off from the last car, wait for a southbound to enter and walk through the first car for the shuttle.

During certain hours the the #5 and #6 operated via the outer loop at South Ferry to provide Lexington service when the Bowling Green shuttle didn't operate. The Bowling Green shuttle was discontinued in 1977, as was all South Ferry service from the Lexington Ave line.

In late 1988, the TA started 'skip stop' service (each train stops at every other station, to increase average speed) on the Broadway line above 96th Street. In order to distinguish the trains, the # 9 designates the trains that make alternative stops from the #1. The skip stop and the #9 designation were discontinued in May 2005.

IRT 1990 Service

Number	North	Via	South	Notes
	242/Van Cortlandt	Broadway-7th Ave	South Ferry	Local/Skip stop in the Bronx until 2005
	241 White Plains Rd	Broadway-7th Ave	Flatbush Ave	Exp Days
	148th Lenox	7th Ave	New Lots	Exp Days
	No Lenox service over night
	Woodlawn-Jerome	Lexington Ave	Utica Ave	Nights-Local
				Rush Exp
			Atlantic Ave	Mid day
	Dyre Ave or E. 180th St	Lexington Ave	Flatbush Ave	Rush Exp
			Bowling Green	Mid Day Evenings & Weekends
	238th St. Nereid Ave		Flatbush Ave	Rush Hour Thru Exp
	Dyre	Shuttle	E. 180th St	Nights
	Pelham Bay Park	Lexington Ave	Brooklyn Bridge	Local - Exp
				Local
	177th Parkchester			Local
	Times Square	Flushing	Main St	Local & Exp
	Times Square	42nd St	Grand Central	Shuttle

Beginning on March 2, 1998, the Lenox Ave tracks between 96th and 116th Streets underwent major reconstruction to correct a water condition that had been a problem since the line opened in 1908. Whle the construction was going on (scheduled until October 1998), the 2 and 3 trains were rerouted. See the Lenox Rehab page for details.

IND LINES

When the IND opened in 1932, lines were designated by letters. The letter is assigned from the north branch and the Manhattan mainline used. The lines were:

BRANCH	8TH AV	6TH AV	OTHER
Washington Heights-Manhattan
Concourse-Bronx
Jamaica-Queens
Brooklyn-Queens Crosstown
Fulton St-Brooklyn
Special	Aqueduct Race Track
	JFK Express	The Train to the Plane

A single letter was an express and repeated letter a local. Thus the A train was an 8th Ave Express from Washington Heights, while the CC was an 8th Ave local from the Concourse. The southern terminals were arbitrarily assigned based upon the same factors as the IRT.

This page has all the IND Subway Services from 1932 to the present as they changed with expansion and merger with the BMT. Chart origianlally adpated from the ERA NY Division Bulletins of October and November 1968. I've exapneded it to 1973 with details and general changes to the present.

The D, E, and F sevices also had a Houston (in NY pronounced HOW-stun) Street designation for those trains that used Houston St south of West 4th Street. See the IND Subway Services page for details of which trains used that line through the years. Full disclosure requires me to say that the E-Houston sign was electonically edited.

The HH operated between Court St-Boro Hall and Hoyt Schermerhorn between 4/9/36 and 6/1/46 only. The dustance between the stations was close enough, that ridership was never very high. The Court St-Boro Hall station remained closed and virtually sealed until the Transit Museum opened in 1976. The platforms on the outside of the A train tracks at Hoyt Schermerhorn remain unused.

After the IND opened to the Rockaways in 1956, the southbound outside platform at Hoyt Schermerhorn was used for the Aqueduct Racetrack Specials. The specials used the lower level of 42/8th and ran non stop to Hoyt Schermerhorn, then non stop to Aqueduct. An extra fare was collected at special turnstiles at the three stations served by the specials. Larger tokens were used for this fare. The specials operated until about 1981.

The IND operated the JFK Express, and extra fare limited stop line between 57th & 6th and later Queensbridge to Howard Beach station on the Rockaway line between 1978 and 1990. Free transfers were made to a bus that operated through the airport. Fares were collected on the train, which operated only three or four cars.

BMT AND IND SHARE THE ALPHABET

In 1960, the TA took delivery of the R-27 cars which had an expansion of the IND letters for assignment to the BMT lines.

LETTER	LINE	MANHATTAN	BMT #
	Jamaica	Nassau St	BMT 15
	Broadway Bklyn	Nassau St	BMT 14
	Canarsie	14th St	BMT 16
	Myrtle Av	Nassau St	BMT 10
	Sea Beach	Broadway	BMT 4
	Brighton	Broadway	BMT 1
	Brighton via Bridge	Broadway	BMT 1
	Brighton via Tunnel	Broadway	BMT 1
	Fourth Ave	Broadway	BMT 2
SS	Shuttles		BMT 5 & 7
	West End	Broadway	BMT 3
	West End Local	Nassau St	BMT 3

As with the IND single letters were express and repeated letters were local (QB & QT were local - the QT operated when the Q express ran and the QB operated at all other times). The TT operated on Sundays and Weeknights only in Brooklyn. During weekdays the TT provided Wall St area service all day via Nassau Street. The T was rush hour and Saturday only via Broadway Express.

Bankers' Specials

There were also two interesting services that used the 'M' signs from the Southern Division of the BMT:

From Brighton Beach there was an M train that operated in rush hours only: local to Kings Highway, express to Dekalb Ave, via tunnel, Nassau St and the south tracks of the Manhattan Bridge back to Brooklyn.

From 95th and 4th Ave, Local to 59th, express to Pacific, via bypass and south tracks to Chambers St, Nassau St. and tunnel back to Brooklyn.

Both of these services were called Bankers' Specials. Some would continue in service and other would lay up at 36th St. Yard.

At that time there were two BMT shuttles: Culver (old #5) and Franklin Ave (old #7).

Return to Menu

BMT-IND Joint Lines

Thanksgiving Weekend 1967 was a landmark day in the history of the subway system. During that weekend the "Chrystie Street Connections" joined the BMT and IND via the Manhattan Bridge tracks from Dekalb Ave. Brooklyn to Grand St. Manhattan. Many routes were combined and the BMT numbers were discontinued in favor of the IND letter system.

During the planning for the connection there was a significantly different service proposal. This included a 4th Ave- BMT Jamaica through route, Broadway AND 6th Ave service from BOTH Brighton and West End, and service between BMT Jamaica and 57th/6th Ave. Here is the service guide.

1967 SERVICE

The first color coding was introduced with these services. The IRT lines and BMT-IND lines that were not changed were also color coded on the 1967 and 1968 maps: the scans of the service names are from the 1967 and 1969 maps.

LINE	NORTH	MAIN	SOUTH	BMT#
	Washington Heights	8Av	Fulton	13
	Washington Heights	6Av	West End	3
	Concourse	8Av	Fulton-Rockaway
	Concourse	6Av	Brighton	1
	Jamaica - IND	8Av	Hud Term (WTC)
	Continental Av-Jamiaca IND	Broadway	Whitehall St
	Jamaica - IND	6Av	Culver	5
	Brooklyn-Queens	Crosstown	Smith/9th	All times
			Church Ave	extended in rush hours only until after 1972
	Jamaica BMT	Nassau	Broad St	£
	Jamaica BMT	6Av	57/6th	£
	8 Avenue	14Street	Canarsie	16
	Metropolitan Ave	Nassau	Chambers	10
		Myrtle Ave	Bridge Jay Sts	11
	57th St	Broadway	Sea Beach	4
	57th St	Broadway	Brighton-Sea Beach	4 Exp
	57th St	Broadway	Brighton	1
	Coney Is Brighton*	Nassau	Jamaica BMT	1&15
	Jamaica BMT	Nassau	95th St	15&2
	Astoria	Broadway	95th St	8&2
	36th/4th	West End	Coney Island	nights/weekends 3

£ In June of 1968 the 57th St/6th Ave station opened. The JJ was dropped and the KK was added. This was pointed out to me by Mike Berson.

* The BMT has always designated the Manhattan end of the line as the NORTH terminal, even if it is physically south of the other end. Thus the north terminal of the M line is in Manhattan even though it is south of the Metropolitan Ave end of the line. This leads to a paradox on the QJ line, in which both ends of the line are out of Manhattan and therefore both are South terminals. The RR does not fall into that trap, since the branch to Astoria has always been considered a northern extension of the Manhattan line and thus it is the NORTH terminal.

To complete the BMT services operating in 1967, the operated from Metropolitan Ave to Bridge-Jay Street via the Myrtle Ave El.. This was the last of the Brooklyn els, not able to use the heavier subway cars. The MJ was eliminated in 1969 when the el south of Broadway as abandoned. The M then provided service to Broadway/Myrtle all times. This was added by Allan Berlin and confirmed by the scan from the 1969 map.

The West End line in Brooklyn was for many years prior to 1967 (and many years after) was served by a shuttle between Coney Island and 36th St and 4th Ave. This line kept the designation after Chrystie St opened.

All of the shuttles operating in various places in the city all became SS.

Shuttle	North	Via	South	Notes
IRT Division
	Dyre Ave	Dyre Ave	E 180th St	Nights
	Times Square	42nd St	Grand Central	Shuttle
	Bowling Green	Shuttle	South Ferry	Weekdays
BMT Division
	Prospect Park	Franklin Ave	Fulton St	Shuttle
	9th Ave	Culver	Ditmas Ave	Shuttle
	Metropolitan Ave	Myrtle ave	Boradway/Myrtle	After 1969
IND Division
	Euclid	Rockaway	Rockaway Park	Nights
	Euclid	Rockaway	Far Rockaway

The IRT lines also got their own colors on the new map.

BMT-IND through the 1980s

In the years since the merger, many of the services were modified, recombined and otherwise changed. But, there is still some relation to the old IND line names and the 1959-1967 letters assigned to the BMT lines by the TA. During the 1970's and early 1980's, a number of service changes were made to adjust to ridership changes and streamlining service:

Line	Year	Change	Reason
	1976	Dropped	Budget considereations - by cutting overlapping services.
		N train extended to Continental Ave
	1976	Renamed K by 1972 and then dropped - no replacement (some B trains from Coney Island went to 57th/6th)	Budget considereations
	1968(?)	Renamed RR and later dropped, forcing 4th Ave passengers had to change at DeKalb Ave for Nassau M trains	Budget considereations
	1968	Dropped - This was a Super Express from Brighton Beach via Coney Island via Sea Beach to Manhattan.	Operations didn't want to run.
	1973	Through routed to Coney Island via the Brighton Line	Made a shorter line than the QJ, which was a very long local line.
		Cut back to Broad St and renamed J

New Colors on the Map

In the mid 1970's a new map was released that further simplified the graphics. Instead of each line having its own color, the trunk lines were consolidated to share a color as follows (the logos are from the MTA web page):

Line			Via
IRT Division
			Seventh Ave Broadway
			Lexington Avenue
			Flushing
BMT Division
			Nassau St
			Broadway
			14th Street
IND Division
			Eighth Ave
			Sixth Ave
			Crosstown
Shuttles
			Times Square (IRT)
			Rockaway Park (IND)
			Franklin Ave (BMT)

All Single Letters

As of May 5, 1986 the remaining double letter routes were changed as follows:

	(the K was dropped when the C began to operate to Brooklyn all day - 1988)
	(for shuttles)

This move is supposed to make following a line easier. Since many routes operate express in one area and local in others (eg., F train is express in Queens & Brooklyn and local in Manhattan) the need for double letters for locals is unnecessary and confusing.

A side note to the 'AA' to 'K' switch, the route signs are printed in alphabetical order, the schedule at 168th St Washington Heights had a number of 'B' trains becoming 'AA' after the AM rush and back to 'B' before the PM rush. The change from 'B' to 'AA' took a few seconds, but the change from 'B' to 'K' delayed trains and wore out the train crews arms (the signs were cranked by hand).

To further eliminate extra names, the various part time shuttles were absorbed itno the line name of the route that was cut back at night. Thus the Dyre shuttle was called the 5, Myrtle shuttle became the M, the TT was absorbed into the B, and the HH became part of the A at night. This also servced to boost the on time performance of the main lines, since the shuttles were rarely late.

Train name changes

Rockaway and Fulton Street services

Also during this period, there were a number of adjustments to the service patterns on Fulton St. to the Rockaways. At various times, the E was extended as a rush hour only express along Fulton St with terminals at Euclid, Lefferts, Rockaway Park and Far Rockaway. Later the A and E switched and the A became the express. Still later the E was made full time to WTC and the rush hour-mid day C was operated local with the A express. There have been a number of Broad Channel to Rockaway Park shuttles at various times. These trains carried 'HH' or 'S' signs.

DATE	EXPRESS	LOCAL
9/16/1956
9/8/1959
1/2/1973
8/30/1976
5/5/1986

The train was added for the Rockaway shuttles from Euclid Ave to Far Rockaway and Rockaway Park and for Broad Channel to Rockaway Park.

BMT-IND Post 1990 Changes

Since the early 1990's the following minor changes were made because of construction on the Manhattan Bridge and the opening of the Archer Ave and 63rd St Tunnel:

LINE	NORTH	MAIN	SOUTH	BMT
	Parsons-Jamaica IND 12/11/1988	8th Av	WTC
	145th St or Bedford Park Blvd	8th Av	Fulton Local - Euclid or WTC
	Metropolitan Ave	Nassau	Bay Parkway or 9th Ave	10&3
	Astoria	Broadway	Coney Is-Sea Beach	8&4
	Queens Bridge 10/29/1998	6th Av	Brighton	1
	Continental Av-Jamaica IND	Broadway	95th St	2
	Parsons Jamaica BMT	Nassau	Broad St	15 (skip stop with J)

The route logos are from the MTA web pages

IND GETS MESSED UP

With the March 1, 1998 schedule, gearing up for OPTO on a few more lines, the B and C trains swapped north terminals thus messing up the simple elegance of the original IND lettering scheme forever.

LINE	NORTH	MAIN	SOUTH	BMT
	Bedford Park Blvd or 145th St	6th Av	Coney Island	3 (West End)
	168th St Washington Heights	8th Ave	Euclid Ave

Return to Menu

CONSTRUCTION CHANGES

During the mid day construction on the Manhattan Bridge in 1995 (closing the bridge to all trains), the Q was re-routed back to Broadway and the tunnel. The Q had both yellow - Broadway and orange - 6th Ave signs on the cars.

Beginning on March 1, 1998 and continuing into late 1999, the 63rd Street tunnel tracks are being replaced. This was done one track at a time. While this is going on, the B, F and Q trains that normally serve the line will terminate at 57th and 6th Ave. A shuttle train will operate on the track not being worked on between 57th and 7th Ave to 21st Queensbridge. See the 63rd Shuttle page.

CHRYSTIE STREET IS
REPEALED!

Beginning on July 22, 2001 the following changes were made to allow the NYC Department of transportaiton to complete (after 20 years) the rehabilitation of the Manhattan Bridge

LINE	NORTH	MAIN	SOUTH	BMT
	Bedford Park Blvd or 145th St	6th Av	34th/6th
	205th St Concourse	6th Ave	34th/6th
	57th/7th	Broadway Exp	Coney Island -Brighton	Local all times
	57th/7th	Broadway Exp	Brighton Beach	Exp M-F
	Astoria	Broadway Exp	Coney Island - West End	3 (West End)

Return to Menu

World Trade Center Terror - 9-11-2001

On September 11, 2001 two hijacked planes crashed into and destroyed the two World Trade Center towers. While the loss of life far overshadowed the subway service disruptions, here are the services the TA was able to operate during the disaster. World Trade Center

63rd Connector

The 63rd St connector was placed into service on December 16, 2001 along with the V Train on 12/17/2001.

LINE	NORTH	MAIN	SOUTH	BMT
	Parsons - Archer Local at night	8th Ave	Canal
	179th St	63rd - 6th Av	Coney Island - Culver	5 (Culver)
	Court Sq Continental Ave weekends and nights	Crosstown	Smith - 9th
	Continental Ave Local	Broadway Local	95th/4th	2 (Fourth Ave)
	Continental Av Local	53rd - 6th Ave	Second Ave - Houston	M-F days

MAP

Stillwell Ave

With the closing of the F and Q service to Stillwell Ave on 9/7/2002, the following changes were made in the basic BMT southern services:

LINE	SOUTH	NORTH	TIME	VIA
	Ave X	179th	All times	63rd
	86th St	Pacific	Nights	4th Av Express
	86th St	Astoria	Days	Tunnel
	Brighton Beach	57th-7th	All times	Bridge
	95th St	Pacific St	Nights	4th Av Express
	Coney Island	Astoria	Nights	4th Av Local - Tunnel
	Coney Island	Astoria	Days	Bridge

Manahttan Bridge 4 Tracks

Service for February 22, 2004 when all four tracks on the Manhattan bridge are back in service. This was be modified when Stillwell Ave reopened in May. Initally the B used tracks 1 & 2, usually used by the Sea Beach trains. Tracks 7 & 8, normally used by the West End trains will be rebuilt. They are reopened in 2005.
The N will operate at night through the tunnel and days over the bridge.

LINE	SOUTH	NORTH	TIME	VIA
	Bay Parkway	Metropolitan Ave	Rush Hours	Nassau - Tunnel
	Chambers St		Mid Day	Nassau
	Broadway Myrtle		Nights and Weekends	Shuttle
	86th St	Astoria	Nights	4th Av Local Tunnel Broadway Local
			Days	4th Av Express Bridge (S) Broadway Express (stops at 49th St)
	Brighton Beach	57th-7th	All Times	Brighton Local Bridge (S) Broadway Express
	Brighton Beach	145th or Bedford Park	Weekdays	Brighton Express Bridge (N) 6th Ave Express
	95th St	Continental Ave	Days	Tunnel
		36th St	Nights	Shuttle
	Whitehall St	Astoria	Weekdays	Broadway Local
	Coney Island (West End)	205th - Concourse	Days	4th Ave Express Bridge (N) 6th Ave Express
			Nights	4th Ave Local Bridge (N) 6th Ave Express

The rationale given for swapping the B and D in Brooklyn was that the D was full time from 205th and the B weekdays only from Bedford Park or 145th St. In Brooklyn, the West End was to become full time thru service to Manhattan, the Brighton was to be covered by full time Broadway service with the Q, thus leaving the part time B to cover the part time Brighton Express.

Stillwell Ave Notes

Chambers St Relay Room Fire

On Sunday January 23, 2005 a fire was started in or near the Chambers St. relay room. It was thought to be the work of a homeless person trying to stay warm. Later it was found that it was possibly caused by TA employees leaving flammable material. Stay tuned
The first estimate to return to normal service was 3 to 5 years. On Tuesday January 25, the TA announced that service could be restored to most of the A train in a few weeks and the C in nine months. The 3 to 5 year estimate was to completely replace all destroyed components.

Here are the service changes for the first week(s). Chambers St Fire

December 2005 Strike service

Made you look!

Line			Via
IRT Division
			TWU on strike - No Service
BMT Division
			TWU on strike - No Service
IND Division
			TWU on strike - No Service
Shuttles
			TWU on strike - No Service

On 12/20/2005 the TWU Local 100 calls strike against the NYCTA buses and subways at 3:00AM The deadline had been extended from 12/16 and started with Jamaica and Triboro buses on 12/19 (employees not under Taylor Law) The TWU Agrees to return to work without contract 12/22 Service was normal after midnight - Negotiations continued until December 2006!

---

Winter Operations 2008

Winter Operations has always been a little known feature of service adjustments used by the TA in the case of severe winter weather. These plans include operating extra trains on outdoor lines as well as storing as many trains as possible on underground express tracks. Here are some of the features of the 2008 plan as described in the February 2008 ERA NY Division Bulletin

LINE	SOUTH	NORTH	TIME		Reason
	149th - Grand Concourse	Dyre Ave Shuttle	Nights		More trains operated on elevated
	Grand Central	Times Square	All night operation		Layup #7 trains underground between TS and GC
	Grand Central	Main St	Cut back from TS
	Suspended after PM Rush hours				This is a guess: Use express tracks on Broadway and 6th Ave for Layups
	Rockaway Park	Euclid	Shuttle extended		More trains operated on open sections
	Queens Plaza	Continental Ave	Cut back from Queens Blvd		Layup trains on Express tracks between QP and Continental

In addition to these service adjustments, additional SNOW TRAINS are operated with no passengers on elevated and open cut areas.

---

Proposed 2008 Service

In December 2007, the MTA board voted to increase the price of the discounted fares. These took effect in March 2008. Along with this, they also voted to increase some services on parts of the BMT and IND lines plan as described in the February 2008 ERA NY Division Bulletin.

None of these changes were put into effect.

LINE	SOUTH	NORTH	TIME		VIA
	Bay Parkway	Metropolitan Ave	Rush Hours		Nassau - Tunnel
	Broad St		Mid Day		Nassau
	Chambers St		Weekends
	Broadway Myrtle		Nights		Shuttle
	Coney Island	Astoria	All Times		4th Av Express Bridge (S) Broadway Express (stops at 49th St)
	Brighton Beach	145th or Bedford Park	Weekdays Extended hours to 11:00PM at DeKalb Ave		Brighton Express Bridge (N) 6th Ave Express
	95th St	Continental Ave	All times		Tunnel
	Smith/9th	Continental Ave	Nights - Weekends	Additional service	Crosstown - Queens Blvd
		Queens Plaza	Daytime		Crosstown

Return to Top Menu

IRT 2008 Service

Number	North	Via	South	Notes
	242/Van Cortlandt	Broadway-7th Ave	South Ferry	Local
	241 White Plains Rd	Broadway-7th Ave	Flatbush Ave	Exp Days Local at night
	148th Lenox Terminal	7th Ave	New Lots	Exp Days
			Times Sqaure	Nights
	Woodlawn-Jerome	Lexington Ave	Utica Ave	Nights-Local
				Rush Exp
			Atlantic Ave	Mid day
	Dyre Ave or E. 180th St	Lexington Ave	Flatbush Ave	Rush Exp
			Bowling Green	Mid Day Evenings & Weekends
	238th St. Nereid Ave		Flatbush Ave	Rush Hour Thru Exp
	Dyre	Shuttle	E. 180th St	Nights
	Pelham Bay Park	Lexington Ave	Brooklyn Bridge	Local - Exp
				Local
	177th Parkchester			Local
	Times Square	Flushing	Main St	Local & Exp
	Times Square	42nd St	Grand Central	Shuttle

---

Proposed 2009 Service Cuts

In November 2008, with the fiscal crisis getting worse, the MTA has proposed doomsday service cuts. Probably for a summer 2009 implementation.

LINE	SOUTH	NORTH	TIME		VIA
	Bay Parkway	Metropolitan Ave	Eliminated		This will leave no way for CI and 95th passengers to get to the Wall St area
	Broad St		Mid Day		Nassau
	Broadway Myrtle		Weekends
			Nights		Shuttle
	Eliminated
	Coney Island	Astoria	Mid days?		Extended to cover extra service to replace
	Coney Island	Astoria	All Times		Local north of Canal St
			Nights Announced 12/15/08		*via bridge, closing City Hall, Cortlandt, Rector, Whitehall, Court St, and Lawrence
	Eliminated				No skip stop with J
	Parsons - Archer	Broad St/Chambers(?)	Local All times		Local - no skip stop or express
	Smith/9th	Continental Ave	Eliminated		Crosstown only
		Court Square	All Times
Increase headways on most lines on weekends from 8 to 10 minutes Increase overnight headways form 20 to 30 minutes Close 29 booths at stations with multiple full time booths. Make 13 booths part time. Eliminate 600 Station Agents Raise the fares The following stations would close at night (Announced 12/15/08): City Hall, Cortlandt, Rector, Whitehall, Court St, and Lawrence. *The claim being that passengers could use the Lexington (Fulton, Wall, or Bowling Green) to Brooklyn and change at Atlantic for Coney Island trains, all of which would go via bridge. Passengers at Court St. could use either IRT line to Atlantic and Lawrence St could walk to DeKalb Ave. Apparently they are also assuming that Whtehall St. will be connected to South Ferry by the time the changes are implemented. but this would not help anyone going to Brooklyn.
On May 6, 2009, the state legislature came up with a last minute plan to avoid the cuts, but it cost the CEO, Eliot Sander his job. The governor will replace him with 'his own person'. It's important to note that none of the MTA problems were due to Sander and that things were improving, not withstanding the fiscal issues. It all stems from the cuts in funding from the city and state that began in the 1990's. Let's see if the governor's person can do anything with the lack of funding.

IRT 2009 Service

Number	North	Via	South	Notes
	242/Van Cortlandt	Broadway-7th Ave	South Ferry	Local
	241 White Plains Rd	Broadway-7th Ave	Flatbush Ave	Exp Days Local at night
	148th Lenox Terminal	7th Ave	New Lots	Exp Days
			Times Sqaure	Nights
	Woodlawn-Jerome via middle track Bedford Park to 149th St AM only - every 15 minutes 7:15 to 8:00AM	Lexington Ave	Utica Ave	AM Rush Thru Exp
	Woodlawn -Jerome	Lexington Ave	Utica Ave	Nights-Local
				Rush Exp
			Atlantic Ave	Mid day
	Dyre Ave or E. 180th St	Lexington Ave	Flatbush Ave	Rush Exp
			Bowling Green	Mid Day Evenings & Weekends
	238th St. Nereid Ave		Flatbush Ave	Rush Hour Thru Exp
	Dyre	Shuttle	E. 180th St	Nights
	Pelham Bay Park	Lexington Ave	Brooklyn Bridge	Local - Exp
				Local
	177th Parkchester			Local
	Times Square	Flushing	Main St	Local & Exp
	Times Square	42nd St	Grand Central	Shuttle

IRT 2009 Service
Additional change June 2009
#5 operates to Brooklyn day time on weekdays

Number	North	Via	South	Notes
	Dyre Ave or E. 180th St	Lexington Ave	Flatbush Ave	Rush Exp & Mid Day
			Bowling Green	Evenings & Weekends
	238th St. Nereid Ave		Flatbush Ave	Rush Hour Thru Exp
	Dyre	Shuttle	E. 180th St	Nights

2009 Smith 9th viaduct Repairs

The viaduct between Carroll St and Fourth Ave began extensive rehabilitation in June 2009. The First step was to close the express tracks and the B5 middle and rebuild them. To do this the G trains was extended to Church Ave full time It also appears that the G will always terminate at Court Square.

LINE	SOUTH	NORTH	TIME		VIA
	Church Ave	Queens Plaza	All times	Extension during rehabilitation of viaduct	Crosstown - Prospect Park

Return to Top Menu

Proposed 2010 Service Cuts

In November 2009, with the fiscal crisis getting worse again, this time because the state plan to fix the finances didn't work., the MTA has proposed different doomsday service cuts. Probably for a summer 2010 implementation. These plans will undergo public hearings and the table will be modified if changes are made.

LINE	SOUTH	NORTH	TIME		VIA
	Eliminated see below		This will leave no way for CI and 95th passengers to get to the Wall St area. Myrtle passengers to/from Nassau St must change at Essex. Myrtle passengers get direct ride to uptown stations. Broadway Brooklyn passengers for uptown, get same platfom transfer.
	Eliminated
	Metropolitan Ave - Myrtle Line	Continental Ave - Queens Blvd Line	Weekdays		Houston St-Essex St connection on Chrystie St. Unused since the KK train was cancelled (1972). *
		Broadway-Myrtle	Nights-weekends		Shuttle
	Coney Island	Astoria	Mid days		Extended to cover extra service to replace
	Coney Island	Astoria	All Times		Local north of Canal St
			Nights		via bridge, closing City Hall, Cortlandt, Rector, Whitehall, Court St, and Lawrence
	Eliminated				No skip stop with J
	At some point, this was dropped and the skip stop retained. It was probably found that the extra J trains needed to cover the lack of Z trains eliminated any crew/train savings.
	Parsons - Archer	Broad St/Chambers(?)	Local All times		Local - no skip stop or express
	Smith/9th	Continental Ave	Eliminated		Crosstown only
		Court Square	All Times
Increase headways on most lines on weekends and overnight Close booths at stations with multiple full time booths. Make other booths part time. Non represented managers would get a 10% pay cut. Many who can will retire.
* the Myrtle Ave line can only take 480' trains and no 75' cars. As a result, the new will operate with eight car trains of R-42 or R-160 fleets assigned from the ENY Barn. After the uproar at the community hearings about dropping the , the TA changed it to a 6th Ave . But since the service will be between Continental and Metropolitan, the stations the community were interested in, will still lose service.

June 27, 2010 BMT-IND Service

As a result of the failure of the New York State Legislature to find stable funding for the MTA, it was forced to cut service on all of its agencies. Trains were eliminated on the Metro North and Long Island Railroads and bus lines were eliminated and drivers laid off. Staffed subway booths were closed and railroad clerks were laid off.

June 25 - A proposal was given the TWU to avoid the personnel cuts that included new employee pension, pay rate steps and health care rules. It's important to note that the rule changes were to apply to new hires only and would save many of the laid off employees and use attrition to reduce the staffing. As of June 26, the union hadn't approved the changes.

June 27 - The TWU made a proposal that the the MTA rejected, but would be willing to go to mediation. The proposal included employee deductions that would help the MTA fund early retirements that would allow jobs to be eliminated by attrition, rather than layoffs.

LINE	SOUTH	NORTH	TIME		VIA
	Far Rockaway	207th	Nights		Washington Heights-8th Ave-Fulton St local
	Rockaway Park		AM Rush Hour five trains		Washington Heights-8th Ave-Fulton St Express
	Lefferts Blvd		Weekays and weekends
			Nights		Shuttle
		Euclid Ave
	Rockaway Park	Broad Channel	All times		Shuttle
	Brighton Beach	145th St/8th Ave	Weekdays		Brighton 6th Ave express 8th Ave local
		Bedford Park Blvd	Rush Hours		Concourse local
	Euclid Ave	168th Washington Heights	Weekdays/weekend days		Washington Heights-8th Ave-Fulton St local
	Coney Island - tracks 7&8	205th St/Grand Concourse	Days/Weekend		4th Ave Brooklyn/6th Ave Express Concourse local
			Rush hours		Concourse express in heavy direction
			Nights		4th Ave local
	World Trade Center	Jamaica Center - Archer Ave	Days		Queens Blvd express 8th Ave local
			Nights		Queens local
	Coney Island tracks 5&6	179th St	All times		Queens Blvd Express 6th Ave local via 63rd St
	Church Ave Smith 9th viaduct repairs	Court Square	All times		Crosstown
	Jamaica Center - Archer Ave	Broad St	Days		Jamaica Ave Broadway Brooklyn local
			Rush hour		Jamaica Ave Broadway Brooklyn skip stop with J
		Chambers St	Nights and weekends		Jamaica Ave Broadway Brooklyn local
	Rockaway Parkway	8th Ave/14th St	All times		14th St Canarsie Local
	Metropolitan Ave	Continental Ave	Weekdays		Myrtle Ave 6th Ave 53rd St Queens Blvd local
		Broadway-Myrte	other times		Shuttle
	Coney Island tracks 1&2	Astoria	Days		Sea Beach 4th Ave express Broadway local via bridge
			Nights		Sea Beach 4th Ave Broadway local via tunnel
	Coney Island tracks 3&4	Astoria	Days		Brighton local Broadway express (stops at 49th St)
		57th/7th	Nights weekends		Brighton local Broadway express (skips 49th St)
	95th St/4th Ave	Continental Ave	Days & Weekends		4th Ave Broadway Queens Blvd local via tunnel
		36th St/4th Ave	Nights		Shuttle
	Prospect Park	Franklin Ave-Fulton St	All times		Shuttle

The 6th Ave M will be operated by four car units of R-160 cars assigned to East New York Barn. The R-42 fleet there will be used on the J and Z lines only. There is a new fleet proposal for R-179 cars that include ten four car sets, 40 cars, to replace the R-42 cars. This would not happen until at least 2015.